Opportunities and Challenges of Multiomics for Discovery and Monitoring of Human Pathogens

Abstract

Detection and monitoring of pathogens is a central aspect of maintaining public health. Rare and neglected zoonotic viruses have the potential to evolve and expand exponentially, leading to unforeseen outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics. The emerging multiomics and meta-omics techniques and workflows, such as proteogenomics and meta-genomics, offer the potential for the detection of harmful pathogens, as well as opportunities for the discovery of previously unknown bacterial, parasitic, or viral pathogens. Multiomics and meta-omics workflows provide molecular information for tracking pathogens and understanding the effectiveness of spread mitigation strategies. In addition to environmental monitoring, multiomics and meta-omics approaches have the potential for clinical applications and in-depth characterization of novel pathogens. In this review, we discuss recent applications of multiomics and meta-omics techniques, their advantages over traditional methods, and their potential implementations in biomedical research, environmental studies, and healthcare. We critically assess the benefits and challenges of multiomics and meta-omics studies and discuss their future perspectives.